Just a thought for Novice...

[Meow]

Not sure if it's just me, but anyone else in Novice think the practice lap before our race is painfully slow? I'm not by any means the fastest out there, but I think we need to get more heat into our tires before the race. I'm mostly referring to the Spokane races we just had, but what do you guys think? I stayed near the end on Sunday, went out near last, and still got in a mess of traffic before T1. :headscratch:

[tophyr]

Go out closer to the front.. the front runners go pretty fast on the warmup lap.

[wsuduc]

I try to go out in the front on the warm up lap as well. I have some room to travel and heat up the tires. I was in the back of the warm up lap once and yes it is painfully slow. I don't run tire warmers so that first lap is crucial. I try to get on the brakes hard in the braking zone to build that heat.

I think it is the nature of the novice beast. So many different comfort levels and bike sizes that the "pack" tends to ride very slow.

My bike is dog ass slow down the straight so unfortunately I am always at the end going into t1 & t2 after the start of the race, so I know how slow it gets there and for the first lap really.


Nice job not target fixing on Jim's lowside in T2 on the second lap. There was about 4 of us in a group that did a great job of seeing the waving yellow and pushing through with no major line changes or overzealous braking!

[Lynk]

... or you could just follow my example. :D

Crash on cold tires in the second practice, thereby taking yourself out for the rest of the weekend. Decide that warmers are a great idea. Buy a generator.

My lowside in T2 left me with a broken subframe, no fairing stay, a severly mangled rearset, and need for leatherwork and a new helmet. I'd say $750 for warmers and a generator would have been worth it. :p

[Meow]

I try to go out in the front on the warm up lap as well. I have some room to travel and heat up the tires. I was in the back of the warm up lap once and yes it is painfully slow. I don't run tire warmers so that first lap is crucial. I try to get on the brakes hard in the braking zone to build that heat.

I think it is the nature of the novice beast. So many different comfort levels and bike sizes that the "pack" tends to ride very slow.

My bike is dog ass slow down the straight so unfortunately I am always at the end going into t1 & t2 after the start of the race, so I know how slow it gets there and for the first lap really.




lol you and me BOTH on the SV 650...... getting passed like we're standing still just isn't fair. :angry3: I guess I need to graduate asap. Then I can have a track of my own, as the leaders do their thing. :)


A note about going out first... I actually run tire warmers, thus the reason I go out last as well, to keep as much heat in the tires. But I think the guys near the back aren't getting any heat into their tires on the "warm up" lap. Which might be why we're having crashes at the beginning of our races.

[wsuduc]

lol you and me BOTH on the SV 650...... getting passed like we're standing still just isn't fair. :angry3: I guess I need to graduate asap. Then I can have a track of my own, as the leaders do their thing. :)

Eric (903) and I are thinking the same thing. Won't it be great to graduate and race with like sized bikes! No more flyby's on the straights! Well, at least until I get lapped! LOL

[tophyr]

Another option, actually, might be to go out WAY at the end - ie, wait for the majority of the pack to get 20 seconds down the road or so. Then you could run a hot lap on a basically empty track and catch up to them by grid.

[Lauralynne]

Another option, actually, might be to go out WAY at the end - ie, wait for the majority of the pack to get 20 seconds down the road or so. Then you could run a hot lap on a basically empty track and catch up to them by grid.

And hold up the rest of the grid and add time to our already tight race day schedule...not sounding like a good idea to me.

The simple answer is tire warmers - a half way decent warm up lap - and then everyone grid efficiently and get the heck out there and race!!

[Mr Sunshine]

Eric (903) and I are thinking the same thing. Won't it be great to graduate and race with like sized bikes! No more flyby's on the straights! Well, at least until I get lapped! LOL

Sometimes its frustrating when you are trying to take the guy in front of you and they have the same amount of power.....and you can't just say "Oh its a 600 so no wonder they can go faster than me." :)

As to the sighting/warm up lap. Get out there first and you can set your pace. The MW GP race I took off like a bandit on the warm up lap and was out in front the entire time....that was a strange feeling.

[Mr Sunshine]

And hold up the rest of the grid and add time to our already tight race day schedule...not sounding like a good idea to me.

The simple answer is tire warmers - a half way decent warm up lap - and then everyone grid efficiently and get the heck out there and race!!

If they wait they will be catching up with the rest of the pack anyhow so their won't be a delay. Now if you are one of those who go slowly on the warm up lap and you wait..then there would be a delay.

Even with tire warmers if you go too slowly on your warm up lap...your tires will cool down alot thus negating the reason for the warmers.

[ngng]

Go out closer to the front.. the front runners go pretty fast on the warmup lap.

+1

worked for me?

[tophyr]

If they wait they will be catching up with the rest of the pack anyhow so their won't be a delay. Now if you are one of those who go slowly on the warm up lap and you wait..then there would be a delay.

Even with tire warmers if you go too slowly on your warm up lap...your tires will cool down alot thus negating the reason for the warmers.

Yeah, this is more what I was thinking. If you know you can and will run 1:40, and you know the tail end of the pack runs at about 1:55, wait 15 sec after they go and boom, you'll catch up right at grid.

[Hypnotiq]

Line up early and be the first one out Kat. :)

[Moto]

A note about going out first... I actually run tire warmers, thus the reason I go out last as well, to keep as much heat in the tires. But I think the guys near the back aren't getting any heat into their tires on the "warm up" lap. Which might be why we're having crashes at the beginning of our races.

Novices make Novice mistakes. That's why there are crashes that don't really make sense.

If you are concerned about heat in your tyres, repeatedly accelerate and brake.

[snake]

I went out front on Sunday and got plenty of heat in the tires. :)

[jpaulsen]

Well, I'll just pipe in with my thoughts on a couple of things:

I am a fan of tire warmers as they eliminate much of the doubt going out on the first lap (unless you get held up for 15+ minutes on the grid to wait for the rain recently!). An investment will worth the money if you are using a race oriented tire. I also agree with Nico...go out near the front and set your pace if at all possible. If there are people needing to go faster, they can go around.

As for my "incident" in T2, didn't think (or feel) like a lowside. Talked to #915 who weaved around the carnage just behind me and he said both me and bike "bounced" about 5' in the air. Front wheel tucking when I ran out of pavement on the inside. Impatience was totally my fault! That's what you get left with when you kill the engine from Pole! Didn't think anything was broken (per medics), but turned out I had to go to ER in Moses Lake. Seperated shoulder, possible torn Rotator Cuff, fractured rib, bruised lung with a slight perforation, fractured pelvis and a sprained ankle. All on the right side that hit. Head hit 2 times pretty good and I remember all pretty clearly. Short term memory loss was due to the impact and mostly cleared in about 30 minutes. I was told by the CW that #910 (body) tumbled over me as well, but he picked up his bike and continued on prior to being pulled!? More lessons learned!

Anyway, back on topic. Unless you are on actual street tires (designed to warm up much quicker), I feel warmers are a great investment. It won't ever affect the speeds due to the different bikes & rider skillls in Novice. There will always be a great disparity with those. For now, shuffling back on my walker to get more meds!

Jim

[jpaulsen]

By the way snake (957), you were SMOKIN' this weekend! Plenty of heat if I say so myself!

Jim

[Mr Sunshine]

Damn Paul that sucks. I didn't get a chance to swing by your pit after your crash. I did see you kill it on the start though. After watching that novice start all I can say is the novices really need to learn how not to kill their bikes when they start....you weren't the only one.

Heal up buddy so you can show me the way around the track again. :)

[geddyt]

Man, seems people need to not pit next to me or even talk to me on race day. Seems that will almost guarantee a crash. Sorry to hear about it Jim! Heal up.

[justintime2]

Whatchya think there geddyt...us guys up north seem to be dark clouds lately. We need to all get together and tell terribly wild stories about how we were battling for first place when all went wrong and it cost us the championship!!! :)

[tophyr]

Man, seems people need to not pit next to me or even talk to me on race day. Seems that will almost guarantee a crash. Sorry to hear about it Paul! Heal up.

Haha! Let alone ride your bike, f that shit.

[jpaulsen]

No, no jinx or anything. I was bummed to see that nice looking RR get messed up though Tom.

No, mine was purely rider error. Killing the start, then a lack of patience to get back where I "thought" I should be. Painful lesson though...

[jwinn76]

glad your alright Jim... Man you just didnt have that great of a weekend :)

[jpaulsen]

Hey thanks Josh! Just got a chance to see the bike up close yesterday and it looks like it faired pretty well. That may be it for the bodywork though. Further tests on me showed a fractured vertabre in the lower back along with the pelvis. Good news is they are "non-displaced" meaning no surgery, but a slow and painful healing. At least 6-8 weeks according to the Docs with no more riding for the summer. Of course, I plan on a shorter timetable on all anyway!

Jim

[Toecutter]

I still can't belive how hard #909 went down in frout of me. 909 you endowed and high sided at the same time bad combo

[Bad Dog]

Tire warmers can help but back in the day, tire warmers were rare. I started in 96 and didn't start using tire warmers until last year. I used to go out on cold Pilots, the originals, :wow: Contrary to popular belief, braking and accelerating warm up the tires.

If you don't like your pace, either be at the gate first and go as fast as your like or figure out when to get out. This isn't a club problem to solve, :bigsmile: